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San Diego County supervisors on Tuesday voted to ask state and federal regulators to investigate the parent company of San Diego Gas and Electric Co.

Supervisor Dianne Jacob asked her board colleagues to file the request with the California Public Utilities Commission and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The vote to send the letter was 5-0.

The request was in response to reports by The Watchdog and partner 10News last month featuring allegations by a former Sempra Energy executive in a wrongful-termination lawsuit.

Among other claims, the former Sempra controller said the company paid bribes to Mexican government officials and used ratepayer funds to build a multimillion-dollar retreat along the Baja California coast. The company said the payment was a bond required in enforcement of the law, and that no customer money went to the conference center, known as Casa Azul.

“To truly put the allegations to rest, state and federal regulators must investigate on behalf of the public,” Jacob wrote in seeking support from her board colleagues.

Sempra responded, “These claims, made by a disgruntled ex-employee in a civil lawsuit, are false and outrageous -- nothing more than a veiled attempt to extract money from the company. We will expose these allegations as false in the proper legal venue. Supervisor Jacob is well aware that anyone can say anything in a civil lawsuit, but that does not make it true. We are disappointed that she has embraced these baseless claims, but not surprised, given her history as a longtime, outspoken critic of the company.”